


Back Together

by choomchoom



Series: angsty driftrod flashfic [3]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Ambiguous Relationship, Gen, Hugs, Touch-Starved, this document was just called 'driftrod hugs' on my laptop ngl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 08:37:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21317287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/choomchoom/pseuds/choomchoom
Summary: Drift and Rodimus, relearning each other.[one of my TFCon minific zines]
Relationships: Drift | Deadlock & Rodimus
Series: angsty driftrod flashfic [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1530833
Comments: 2
Kudos: 67





	Back Together

1.

Drift doesn’t think that any amount of self-sacrifice, any number of deep revelations about the meaning of life, any steps toward accepting help and love could have prepared him for seeing Rodimus again.

Rodimus looks terrible, a mess of scrapes and dents, something making an unsettling grinding noise in his frame as he settles to kneel in front of Drift. What that does to Drift’s spark wars with the lingering sting of betrayal as he tries to apologize, radiating sincerity and sorrow.

Rodimus’s relief fills the room when Drift acknowledges him with a smile, and then he has to go and mention the DJD, reminding Drift that in a few hours, none of this will matter.

Rodimus doesn’t touch Drift. Drift doesn’t touch Rodimus. He’s half-sure one or both of them will break if he does.

2\. 

Drift survives.

Most of them survive, and the battle debris that litter the area around the fortress remind them of how close it was.

People wander, studying the spark flowers or visiting or visiting their own or dead friends’ statues, but everyone is always in the fortress as the sun sets, the ghosts that litter this planet driving them to seek shelter.

The sun is just starting to set when Drift finds Rodimus frowning at the reconstructed teleporter. “Come inside with me? I have a question,” he says, and this is one of those times where Drift doesn’t even want to tell Rodimus no. He crawls in behind him, stopping when Rodimus turns to face him. “So this thing can fit eight or nine people, yeah? I’m trying to figure out who to take with us.”

What Rodimus seems to want is to talk quietly for a few minutes, hunched to fit sitting up in the tunnel, hidden away from the rest of the world. Drift agrees with him that Chromedome and Rewind should get an invitation to get off this planet, that Rung and Nautica probably ought to stay with their friends, nods when Rodimus says, as casually as possible “And of course I can’t leave them with _him_ in command.”

Rodimus’s knee is pressing up against Drift’s as they talk, and Drift isn’t sure if he would rather pull away or drag Rodimus into his arms, so he settles for pretending he doesn’t notice.

3.

This is the first time they’ve been this close since…since before, and Drift suddenly intensely regrets it.

Rodimus’s frame is trembling at intervals as his system tries to work through whatever that weapon did to him. He’s leaning hard against Drift, and it’s obvious that he would collapse if he wasn’t. He stumbles doggedly toward the matter transporter despite it, and when they reach the wall he grabs at it, freeing Drift to guard their retreat and leaving him cold.

4\. 

The plan comes to Drift fully formed when he opens a door and comes face to face with what must be Censere’s secret stash of engex.

He finds Rodimus and brings him to an empty room with a door that locks. Rodimus smiles, grateful but tired, when he sees the bottle. They pass it back and forth leaning against the wall, looking out the window at the setting sun.

“I missed you,” Rodimus says, once they’re most of the way through the bottle and have spent an hour awkwardly talking around everything important. “I’m sorry if it’s unfair to say it and I know that it’s my own fault, but.“ He stops.

There are dozens of better ways to communicate with someone than words. Drift sets down the engex and pulls Rodimus into a hug. Rodimus melts against him, slipping his arms around Drift’s waist after a minute, as though he’d waited to be sure that Drift wasn’t about to change his mind. He stays curled around Drift and doesn’t say anything else. They stay there, holding each other, until the last traces of sunset are gone from the sky. 

5\. 

There’s nothing even resembling privacy on Skip, and after months of near-complete isolation, Drift feels a little like he’s losing his mind. Some of these people are crew, but that’s not exactly grounds to trust them given how his exit from the Lost Light had gone, and regardless, half the people here are strangers. He hasn’t recharged in days, people are tripping over each other, and the coming _months _of this loom before him.

He’s exhausted and strung out when he makes his way to Rodimus, who’s in the pilot’s seat frowning at the space in front of him. Ratchet’s asleep next to him, and thankfully there isn’t space for anyone else up here, unless they want to stand.

Drift sits down on Rodimus’s lap, curling his head into Rodimus’s chest as Rodimus’s arms encircle his waist. “You okay?” Rodimus murmurs directly into his audial.

Despite everything, this is the safest Drift has felt in days. He nods, and he falls asleep to Rodimus tracing gentle circles on his back.


End file.
